Digital-Analog Quantum Simulations Using The Cross-Resonance Effect

Digital-analog quantum computation aims to reduce the currently infeasible resource requirements needed for near-term quantum information processing by replacing sequences of one- and two-qubit gates with a unitary transformation generated by the systems' underlying Hamiltonian. Inspired by this paradigm, we consider superconducting architectures and extend the cross-resonance effect, up to first order in perturbation theory, from a two-qubit interaction to an analog Hamiltonian acting on 1D chains and 2D square lattices which, in an appropriate reference frame, results in a purely two-local Hamiltonian. By augmenting the analog Hamiltonian dynamics with single-qubit gates we show how one may generate a larger variety of distinct analog Hamiltonians. We then synthesize unitary sequences, in which we toggle between the various analog Hamiltonians as needed, simulating the dynamics of Ising, XY, and Heisenberg spin models. Our dynamics simulations are Trotter error-free for the Ising and XY models in 1D. We also show that the Trotter errors for 2D XY and 1D Heisenberg chains are reduced, with respect to a digital decomposition, by a constant factor. In order to realize these important near-term speedups, we discuss the practical considerations needed to accurately characterize and calibrate our analog Hamiltonians for use in quantum simulations. We conclude with a discussion of how the Hamiltonian toggling techniques could be extended to derive new analog Hamiltonians which may be of use in more complex digital-analog quantum simulations for various models of interacting spins.